Public Health Care in the US; Comparison of Countries by Public Health Expenditures

It is important to pay attention to the premises that people base their assertions on. If an entire math paper is predicated upon the theory that 1 + 1 = 3, and that theory is applied throughout the paper, then there is really no need to read on or to take the writer serious as a mathematician.

A good example in the realm of economics that I just came across is this guy who writes an article that is in large parts predicated upon the following assertion:

The United States has the most privatized health care system in the advanced world; it also has, by far, the most expensive care, without gaining any clear advantage in quality for all that spending.

So he makes the assumption that spending on health care in the US more privatized in the US than in any other industrialized nation. And from that he concludes that there is no clear advantage in quality for “all this spending”.

Now, if “all this spending” was indeed more privatized than anywhere else in the world then he may have indeed supplied a valid argument for more government involvement in the realm of health care.

If, however, this assumption were to be proven incorrect, then he would have unwittingly supplied an argument for less government involvement.

Public spending accounts for between 45% and 56.1% of U.S. health care spending. Per-capita spending on health care by the U.S. government placed it among the top ten highest spenders among United Nations member countries in 2004.

Government health spending in the US in 2005 was at 7.2 percent of US GDP. In a comparison of 188 countries worldwide the US ranks at position 18. If we exclude third world countries, the US ranks at position 9, ahead of such supposed big government health care paradises as Canada or even Cuba!

Country

Public health spending % of GDP

1

Marshall Islands

15

2

Micronesia, Fed States

12.4

3

Timor-Leste

11.9

4

Kiribati

11.7

5

Maldives

10.6

6

France

8.9

7

Malawi

8.7

8

Palau

8.7

9

Lesotho

8.5

10

Sao Tome & Principe

8.3

11

Germany

8.2

12

Iceland

7.8

13

Austria

7.7

14

Denmark

7.7

15

Norway

7.5

16

Sweden

7.5

17

Portugal

7.4

18

United States

7.2

19

United Kingdom

7.1

20

Luxembourg

7

21

Belgium

6.9

22

Cuba

6.9

23

New Zealand

6.9

24

Canada

6.8

25

Italy

6.8

26

Switzerland

6.8

27

Japan

6.7

28

Ireland

6.5

29

Malta

6.5

30

Czech Rep

6.3

31

San Marino

6.3

32

Colombia

6.2

33

Montenegro

6.2

34

Slovenia

6.2

35

Croatia

6

36

Netherlands

6

37

Australia

5.9

38

Spain

5.9

39

Finland

5.8

40

Serbia

5.8

41

Hungary

5.5

42

Macedonia, FYR

5.5

43

Costa Rica

5.4

44

Turkey

5.4

45

Bosnia and Herzegovina

5.2

46

Slovakia

5.2

47

Belarus

5

48

Panama

5

49

Seychelles

4.9

50

Israel

4.8

51

Jordan

4.8

52

Bulgaria

4.7

53

Grenada

4.7

54

Cape Verde

4.6

55

Argentina

4.5

56

Botswana

4.5

57

Djibouti

4.5

58

Guyana

4.5

59

Iran, Islamic Rep

4.4

60

Liberia

4.4

61

Andorra

4.3

62

Barbados

4.3

63

Bolivia

4.3

64

Greece

4.3

65

Poland

4.3

66

Dominica

4.2

67

Moldova, Rep

4.2

68

Nicaragua

4.1

69

Rwanda

4.1

70

Burkina Faso

4

71

Lithuania

4

72

Samoa

4

73

Solomon Islands

4

74

Swaziland

4

75

Latvia

3.9

76

Romania

3.9

77

El Salvador

3.8

78

Estonia

3.8

79

Honduras

3.8

80

Lebanon

3.8

81

St. Vincent & Grenadines

3.8

82

Tonga

3.8

83

Ukraine

3.7

84

Papua New Guinea

3.6

85

South Africa

3.6

86

Zimbabwe

3.6

87

Brazil

3.5

88

Namibia

3.5

89

Saint Kitts and Nevis

3.5

90

Bahamas

3.4

91

Gambia

3.4

92

Monaco

3.4

93

Uruguay

3.4

94

Mongolia

3.3

95

St. Lucia

3.3

96

Antigua and Barbuda

3.2

97

Haiti

3.2

98

Qatar

3.2

99

Russian Federation

3.2

100

Turkmenistan

3.2

101

Iraq

3.1

102

Korea, Rep

3.1

103

Benin

3

104

Ethiopia

3

105

Gabon

3

106

Korea, Dem People’s Rep

3

107

Fiji

2.9

108

Mali

2.9

109

Mexico

2.9

110

Tanzania

2.9

111

Belize

2.8

112

Bhutan

2.8

113

Chile

2.8

114

Vanuatu

2.8

115

Mozambique

2.7

116

Paraguay

2.7

117

Zambia

2.7

118

Albania

2.6

119

Algeria

2.6

120

Saudi Arabia

2.6

121

Bahrain

2.5

122

Cyprus

2.5

123

Kazakhstan

2.5

124

Kyrgyzstan

2.5

125

Suriname

2.5

126

Trinidad and Tobago

2.4

127

Tunisia

2.4

128

Uzbekistan

2.4

129

Egypt

2.3

130

Jamaica

2.3

131

Libyan Arab Jamahiriya

2.2

132

Mauritius

2.2

133

Thailand

2.2

134

Ecuador

2.1

135

Ghana

2.1

136

Kenya

2.1

137

Oman

2.1

138

Peru

2.1

139

Syrian Arab Rep

2.1

140

Venezuela

2.1

141

Yemen

2.1

142

Guatemala

2

143

Madagascar

2

144

Uganda

2

145

Malaysia

1.9

146

Morocco

1.9

147

Niger

1.9

148

Sierra Leone

1.9

149

Sri Lanka

1.9

150

United Arab Emirates

1.9

151

Armenia

1.8

152

China

1.8

153

Dominican Rep

1.7

154

Eritrea

1.7

155

Georgia

1.7

156

Guinea-Bissau

1.7

157

Kuwait

1.7

158

Mauritania

1.7

159

Senegal

1.7

160

Brunei Darussalam

1.6

161

Comoros

1.6

162

Nepal

1.6

163

Angola

1.5

164

Cambodia

1.5

165

Cameroon

1.5

166

Central African Rep

1.5

167

Chad

1.5

168

Congo, Dem Rep

1.5

169

Viet Nam

1.5

170

Sudan

1.4

171

Togo

1.4

172

Equatorial Guinea

1.3

173

Nigeria

1.2

174

Philippines

1.2

175

Singapore

1.1

176

Tajikistan

1.1

177

Afghanistan

1

178

Azerbaijan

1

179

Burundi

1

180

India

1

181

Indonesia

1

182

Congo

0.9

183

Bangladesh

0.8

184

Ivory Coast

0.8

185

Guinea

0.7

186

Lao People’s Dem Rep

0.7

187

Pakistan

0.4

188

Myanmar

0.3

So if, furthermore, said guy were to ignore or deny the fact that what he put out there is a blatant falsehood and cling on to his preconceived theories no matter what … well then we have ourselves a good old fashioned, bigoted, boring, predictable, laughable, and paid-off pseudo economist, potentially of the Keynesian specimen, who will cowardly defend the notion that his masters need more power, more money, more credit, more taxes for all eternity, no matter how much they have already been given.

People like this guy never talk about hugely important things like the state enforced special privileges and monopolies granted to the AMA that allow its members to keep prices for health care services high and supply of doctors low.

He also seems to avoid the topic of the state imposed restrictions on importing drugs from abroad unless I’m missing something, but even if he had talked about it somewhere for sure he avoids it where it matters, which would be right in this article.

He also didn’t point out that “Medicare Part D” prohibits Medicare to negotiate with drug companies, as any other entity on the free market can do.

He also passes in silence the fact that there is this institution called FDA that makes it almost impossible for innovative entrepreneurs to bring new potentially lifesaving drugs to market at a cheap price. I heard that 80% of the cost of a drug in the US covers expenses for compliance with FDA regulations.

He also avoids the fact that health insurance providers are not allowed to compete across state lines in most if not all US states.

If on top of all that, after having been supplied all this information, you ask for EVEN MORE state intervention than we ALREADY have, then you are nothing but yet another abhorrent enabler of a system that year after year claims more and more sick people’s happiness and energy and you do indeed deserve nothing but the deepest scorn and contempt from all those who truly care to make this world a healthier and happier place to live for everyone, and not just for a privileged few who can afford the high cost of medicine and insurance in this country!